The routine extravehicular activity (EVA) anticipated from the United States Space Station dictates that productivity be maximized for astronaut accessibility to information during the EVA, Ideally for Space Station EVA, this requires a “hands-free” operation, especially for intensive EVA scenarios such as satellite servicing and emergency or contingent operations. This hands-free access to information will be provided to the crewmember via a voice recognition & control system and a helmet-mounted projection display in the Space Station Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU).
To demonstrate the capabilities of the combined system, a simulation program has been created which addreses the human factors required to effectively provide the crewmember with productive information during an EVA. This simulation concentrates on the anticipated Space Station EMU data logic flow to efficiently provide the EVA crewmember with various information types while maximizing the usefulness of the voice recognition/control system and helmet-mounted display.
This paper will outline features of the simulation program including logic flow, information types, and the man-machine interface techniques that have been incorporated between the simulation program, voice recognizer, and helmet-mounted display.